Stage Directions - Oct 4 & 5, 2025
Two days of strategy, connection, and skills-building for Hamilton theatre and performance makers.
Frost Bites Place-Based Performance Series
Got an idea for a short performance that engages with this land, this city, its community, or the building we're performing in? We want to hear all about it!
Join the Hamilton Fringe Adventurers' Guild
Starting at just $5 a month, you can help us on our journey to Hamilton Fringe’s financial freedom.
Learn MoreAs a leader in the performing arts sector that responds to the changing culture of Hamilton, HFTco builds a community for artists and cultivates work that is accessible, innovative, and artistically adventurous.
Artist Opportunities
Stage Directions- The Symposium
Have your voice heard, build new creative partnerships, and connect with fellow members of the city’s incredible performing arts community. Join us on Saturday, October 4, for Day One of Stage Directions.
Stage Directions - From Seed to Story Workshop
In this workshop on Sunday, October 5, participants will take a memory or a story seed of a real life experience (a true story, from your own life) and with Chantal’s guidance and collaborative practical feedback, grow it into something bigger.
Stage Directions - Introduction to Swordplay
Beginner stage combat class using rapiers on Sunday, October 5. Participants will learn positions and postures, how to move through space telling an effective physical story, safety procedures, and a short combination of fight choreography.
Frost Bites 2026 Place-Based Performance Series
We’re looking for playful, collaborative, creative risk-takers to present site-specific work in non-traditional performance spaces throughout the historic Staircase Theatre building at 25 Dundurn St N from March 6 - 8, 2026, during Week Two of the Frost Bites 2026 festival.
Featured Events & Programs
Festival Program Pick-up Locations
Grab a physical copy of this year’s Festival Program at any one of these locations:
- Coach & Lantern | 384 Wilson St E, Ancaster
- Crown and Press | 303 Ottawa St N
- Democracy* | 202 Locke St S
- Detour Cafe | 41 King St W, Dundas
- Last Supper Books | 148 James St N
- Mulberry Coffeehouse | 193 James St N
- Paisley Coffeehouse & Eatery | 1020 King St W
- Playhouse Cinema | 177 Sherman Ave N
- RELAY Coffee Roasters | 27 King William St
- Shady Grove Lukaya Cafe | 592 Upper Wellington St
- Tourism Hamilton | 28 James St N
- Vintage Coffee Roasters | 977 King St E